Packsack with stiffener for shoulder straps



June 7, 1966 c. c. GRAY PACKSACK WITH STIFFENER FOR SHOULDER STRAPS 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 21, 1964 CLEO C. G RAY l/VVEA/TUR BUG/(HORN,BLORE, KLAROU/ST 8 SPAR/(MAN ATTORNEYS June 7, 1966 c. c. GRAY PACKSACKWITH STIFFENER FOR SHOULDER STRAPS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 21, 1964CLEO C GRAY INVENTOR BUC/(HOEW, BLORE, KLAROU/ST a SPAR/(MAN ATTORNEYSUnited States Patent 3,254,816- PACKSACK WITH STIFFENER FOR SHOULDERSTRAPS Cleo C. Gray, Metolius,'0reg., assignor, by mesne assignments, toJames B. Minturn Filed May 21, 1964, Ser. No..369,117 6 Claims. (Cl.224-8) This invention relates to a packsack, and more particularly to apacksack having a stiff, upper connector portion to which shoulderstraps may be attached.

An object of the invention is to provide a new and improved packsack.

Another object of the invention is to provide a packsack having a stiffupper connector portion to which shoulder straps may be connected.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a packsack having astay secured to the back panel thereof in a position extendingthereacross.

A further object of the invention is to provide a packsack having aflexible back panel portion together with fastener members extendingdiagonally across the weave of the back panel member for attachment tohooks of a packboard.

Yetanother object of the invention is to provide a fastener strip havinga plurality of pairs of eyes spaced therealong to selected ones of whicha pair of shoulder straps may be connected.

The invention provides a packsack having a back panel of flexiblematerial to the upper portion of which is secured a stiffened connectorstrip extending there-across to spread the upper portion of the backpanel and to which shoulder straps may be connected. Preferably theconnector strip includes a band of woven material having, along theupper portion thereof, a plurality of pairs of grommets secured theretoin positions spaced therealong, the band having the lower portionthereof stitched to the back panel along substantially the entire lengththereof and enclosing a stilf, sheet metal stay which has a padpositioned thereover. Preferably a pair of looped, flexible strips areprovided at the ends of the band for attaching the packsack to apackboard, and a pair of looped connectors are provided near the loweredge of the back panel and stitched thereto at vertically spacedpositions positioned along an imaginary line extending somewhatdiagonally relative to the weave of the back panel so that they may bestretched apart to place looped cords connected thereto over hooks of apackboard.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from thefollowing detailed description of a packsack forming a specificembodiment thereof, when read in conjunction with the appended drawings,in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a packsack forming one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary, exploded view of a portion of thepacksack of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary front elevation view of the packsackof FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, perspective view of the packsack of FIG. 1secured to a packboard.

' Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown therein apacksack which may be selectively attached to a packboard 12 (FIG. 4) orcarried by shoulder straps 14 (FIG. 1) without the packboard 12. Thepacksack 10 includes a back panel 16 preferably of canvas or other wovenmaterial, side panels 18 also of canvas, a front panel 20 and a top 22forming an extension of the back panel 16, and, of course, a bottom (notshown). A stiffened connector 24 is provided at the upper end portion ofthe back panel 16 and is secured thereto in a position stiffening andmaintaining the upper portion of the 3,254,816 Patented June 7, 1966 iceback panel 16 spread when the packsack is suspended from the shoulderstraps 14, which are of known construction including snaps 26, adjustingbuckles 28 and lower snaps 30, which are adapted to hook into rings 32secured by looped straps 34 stitched securely to the lower portion ofthe back panel 16.

The upper snaps 26 may be selectively hooked to pairs of grommets oreyes 40, 41 or 42 which are spaced along the upper portion of a fabricconnector strip 44 preferably of heavy woven material of nylon or thelike. About the lower "half of the strip 44 and the end portions thereofare secured by stitchings 46, 48, 50 and 51 to the upper portion of thepanel 16 and form an elongated pocket between the stitchings 46, 48 and50 in which is positioned a stay 54 (FIG. 2) of sheet metal such as, forexample, aluminum having rounded ends 56 and extending substantially theentire length of the pocket formed between the strip 44 and the backpanel 16. A pair of canvas strips 58 are positioned between the stay 56and the strip 44 to form a pad over the edges of the stay 54 with thestrip 44. This construction provides a cushion or pad over the stay sothat there is no discomfort to the user by engagement of the back of theuser by the strip 44. The stitchings 46, 48 and 50 at the ends of thestrip 44 also secure doubled or looped bands 60 to the panel 16 and thestrip 44. The looped bands 60 are adapted to slide over upper endportions 62 of vertical members 64 of the frame of the backboard 12. Thestrip 44 and bands 60 preferably are composed of heavy woven nylon orsimilar material.

The grommets 40, 41 and 42 are secured at the free or unstitched upper,central portion of the strip 44 and, near the stitched end portions ofthe strip 44, rivet type grommets 70 are provided, the grommets 70 (FIG.2) comprising a washer portion 72 and a rivet portion 74, which projectthrough the strip 44, the back panel 16 and a reinforcing strip 76 ofleather, artificial leather or the like, stitched securely to the frontface of the panel 16. A drawstring 80 extending through the grommets 70and also through grommets 82 and 84 (FIG. 1) is provided for drawing theupper end of the packsack 10 to a closed position.

The stay 54 extends substantially completely across the upper edgeportion of the panel 16 and maintains the back portion of the panel 16spread when the packsack 10 is supported by the shoulder straps 14. Theconnector 24 suspends the rest of the panel 16 and prevents bunchingtogether or folding of the panel 16 while permitting the panel 16 toconform somewhat to the back of the user. The multiple thickness of theheavy fabric material at the stitched end portions of the connector 24also provides some stiffness and prevents the outer side edge portionsof the panel 16 from drooping relative to the central portion of thepanel 16.

When the packsack 10 is to be carried by the packboard 12 the bands 60are slid over the upper end members 62 of the vertical members 64 of theframe of the packboard. To secure the lower portion of the packsack tothe backboard, there are provided short, looped cords and 91 havingtheir ends secured together by clips 92 and extending respectivelythrough loops 94 and 95 of folded or looped back, straps 96 and 97stitched to side edge portions of the panel 16 at different heights fromthe bottom of the panel 16. The looped cord 90 is adapted to be slippedover a lower hook 98 (FIGS. 1 and 4) fixed to one member 64 and thelooped cord 91 is adapted to be slipped over a hook 100 secured to theother member 64. The hook 98 is positioned substantially above the hook100 and the two straps 96 and 97 are spaced correspondingly verticallydisplaced positions along an imaginary line somewhat diagonal to weave102 of the back panel 16 so that the portion of the panel 16 between thestitched straps 96 and 97 can be stretched temporarily to facilitatehooking the cords 90 and 91 over thehooks 98 and 100, respectively. Thatis, the panel 16 is composed essentially of woven, substantiallyvertical and horizontal strands so that it has little vertical orhorizontal elasticity, but can be stretched when tensioned diagonally ofthe weave. Both of the loops 90 and 91 are positioned near the bottom ofthe panel 16 so that the lower end of the packsack is held securely tothe lower portion of the packboard 12. The packboard 12 may be of aconstruction disclosed and claimed in my copending application Ser. No,302,344, filed August 15, 1963.

The packsack 10 has the stiffened connector 24 which prevents folding,buckling and sagging of back panel 16 when the packsack is carried bythe shoulder straps 14 connected to the connector 24. Also, theconnector 24 provides a plurality of pairs of eyes 40, 41 and 42 forselectively receiving the snaps 26 of the shoulder straps so that thepositions of the shoulder straps may be varied to adapt them to the sizeof the user and/ or to shift the positions of the straps to vary thepositions of the straps on the shoulders of the user periodically forlong hauls. The spacing of the straps 96 and 97 somewhat diagonallyrelative to the weave of the back panel 16 facilitates fastening thepacksack to the packboard and detaching the packsack therefrom.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are simplyillustrative of the application of the principles of the invention.Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled inthe art which will embody the principles of the invention and fallwithin the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a packsack,

a back panel of flexible material,

a connector strip extending horizontally in a vertical plane and havinga plurality of pairs of grommets spaced along the upper portion thereof,

stitching securing the lower portion of the connector strip to the backpanel in a position extending across the upper portion of the back paneland forming an elongated pocket positioned below the grommets andbetween the lower portion of the strip and the juxtaposed portion of thepanel,

a stayenclosed in the pocket,

and a pair of shoulder straps having at the upper ends thereofconnectors adapted to be attached selectively to the pairs of grommetsand connected at the lower ends thereof to the packsack.

2. The packsack of claim 1 including a reinforcing strip secured by thestitching to the face of the pack panel opposite to the face of the backpanel on which the connector strip is positioned.

3. The packsack of claim 1 including a pair of looped bands having endportions positioned under the end portions of the connector strip andsecured by the stitching to the back panel and the connector strip.

4. The packsack of claim 1 including a pair of rivet members bracketingthe grommets and securing the end portions of the upper portion of theconnector strip to the back panel.

5. In a packsack,

a generally rectangular back panel of fabricmaterial having wovenstrands extending in predetermined directions at a right angle relativeto each other,

means at the upper end of the panel for securing the upper end of thepanel to the upper end of a packboard,

and a pair of securing elements stitched to. the lower portion of theback panel at opposite sides thereof at different distances from thebottom edge of the back panel and along a line extending somewhatdiagonally relative to the weave of the strands for securing the lowerportion of the back panel to opposite sides of the lower portion of apackboard.

6. In a combined packboard and packsack,

a packsack back panel of fabric material having interwoven vertical andhorizontal strands,

a pack-board having a pair of upper connector portions at the uppercorners thereof and a pair of hooks positioned near the lower endthereof spaced vertically from each other a predetermined distance andpositioned at opposite sides of the packboard,

a pair of connectors secured to the back panel at the upper cornersthereof and adapted to be fastened to the upper connector portions ofthe packboard,

a pair of looped fabric strips stitched to the back panel at oppositesides thereof and spaced apart vertically said predetermined distance,

and a pair of loops extending through the loops of the fabric strips andadapted to be placed over the hooks.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 130,18110/1941 Hartsock 224-25 1,167,497 1/1916 Hayes -48 1,505,661 8/1924Nelson 224-8 2,208,962 7/ 1940 DeFinetti 22411 2,390,673 12/1945 Wallace224-8 2,764,327 9/ 1956 Stevenson L 224--8 FOREIGN PATENTS 134,1087/1933 Austria. 307,576 3/ 1929 Great Britain. 441,099 1/ 1936 GreatBritain.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner. JAMES OLDS, Assistant Examiner.

6. IN A COMBINED PACKBOARD AND PACKSACK, A PACKSACK BACK PANEL OF FABRICMATERIAL HAVING INTERWOVEN VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL STRANDS, A PACKBOARDHAVING A PAIR OF UPPER CONNECTOR PORTIONS AT THE UPPER CORNERS THEREOFAN DA PAIR OF HOOKS POSITIONEDPNEAR THE LOWER END THEREOF SPACEDVERTICALLY FROM EACH OTHER A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE AND POSITIONED ATOPPOSITE SIDES OF THE PACKBOARD, A PAIR OF CONNECTORS SECURED TO THEBACK PANEL AT THE UPPER CORNERS THEREOF AND ADAPTED TO BE FASTENED TOTHE UPPER CONNECTOR PORTIONS OF THE PACKBOARD, A PAIR OF LOOPED FABRICSTRIPS STITCHED TO THE BACK PANEL AT OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF AND SPACEDAPART VERTICALLY SAID PREDETERMINED DISTANCE,